In what was a slight improvement over the dismal Pay Per View performance of UFC 42, UFC 43, which drew approximately 49,000 buys, featured an Interim Light Heavyweight Championship bout between former Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture and future Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell.

Although it was just another fight at the time, the bout between Couture and Liddell would be their first in what became one of the highest-grossing rivalries in MMA history. Although there was no bad blood between the two, Couture's second-round TKO victory was considered an upset, one that Liddell would avenge in the rematch two years later.